Published: Saturday, July 6, 2013 at 12:30 PM.

Meanwhile, major roadways in the Panama City area were re-opened Friday after several sections were temporarily closed due to flooding. Friday on Front Beach Road and on Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach, debris including palm leaves, branches and sticks were left scattered from inches of floodwater the day before.

Significant floodwater remained on other roadways, but slowly receded throughout the day. In Panama City Beach, water blanketed one lane of two-lane Joan Avenue near Thomas. The water included untreated sewage from Panama City Beach lift station 40, which overflowed due to the heavy rainfall but had largely receded Saturday morning.

In Callaway, traffic on Tyndall Parkway near East 11th Street slowed Friday as motorists splashed through several inches of water. Tyndall northbound was reduced to one lane because of the water.

And in Springfield, floodwater lingered on State 30 between Cherry and St. John. The road remained closed Saturday due to water, as did U.S. 98 at Bayou Street in Panama City; State at North Berthe in Callaway; and State 77 at Mosley in Panama City.

Just one family had reportedly stayed at Washington County’s flood shelter by Friday night, though others had stopped by for food and water. The family came to a shelter at Abigail Freewill Baptist Church in Vernon after their home flooded, according to Washington County emergency management coordinator Lynne Abel. Officials had been preparing to close the shelter because no one had sought refuge there since it opened Wednesday.

Bay County opened a flood shelter at the Bay County Fairgrounds on Thursday night, and at least four people had sought assistance there by Saturday morning.

A flash flood warning is in effect until 6:30 p.m. Saturday. County emergency management officials said Saturday dirt roads are in critical condition. Residents are strongly urged to limit trips to essential travel on all county roads. Crews are still identifying and responding to dangerous areas. Additonal roads are being barricaded or closed as rains continue to move through saturated areas.
Additionally, a river flood warning is in effect for Washington County. At the Choctawhatchee in Caryville, minor flooding is occurring with an expected crest of 14.6 feet later Saturday holding steady through Monday. On the river in Ebro, moderate flooding is occurring with major flooding forecast beginning early Sunday and continuing at a crest of 16.8 feet through Tuesday.

Nearly 50 structures have been reported to the Emergency Operations Center as having experienced flooding during the event. Of the 45, 38 are homes. Any one who has received damage to their home is asked to call the EOC at 638-6203.

No shelters are open. No large scale power outages occurring.

The Washington County Public Works Dept and the Emergency Management Office are operating on a 12 hour shift Saturday. Road damage estimates are being prepared but will be preliminary estimates only.

###
Lynne Abel, FPEM
Emergency Management Washington County, FloridaPANAMA CITY — Half an inch of rain fell in the Panama City area overnight Friday, according to the National Weather Service, and more was expected Saturday.

Heavy rain bands were expected to move across the area in the afternoon, but updated forecasts included brief periods of sunshine between scattered thunderstorms. Saturday morning, a flood warning was in effect for the Panama City area until 7 p.m.

“Because the soil is already so saturated, it’s not going to take a lot of rain for additional flooding,” NWS meteorologist Alex Lamers said.

The Choctawhatchee River had a particularly high risk of flooding Saturday, NWS noted.

But conditions should improve soon.

“This will probably be the last day for a chance of flooding,” NWS meteorologist Don Van Dyke said Saturday.

A 50 percent chance of rain is forecast Sunday. The likelihood of rain drops to 40 percent Monday and Tuesday, and more normal weather conditions for the season are expected beginning Wednesday.

In slightly more than one week, some areas of Bay County received more than 20 inches of rain, which Lamers said is “a pretty exceptional rainfall total” for the season. He noted that Panama City was among the Bay County areas hardest hit by the rainfall.

Since Tuesday alone, more than 11 inches of rainfall was recorded at both Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport and Tyndall Air Force Base.

In Jackson County in Marianna, 4.5 inches of rain was recorded since Wednesday. And in Franklin County in Apalachicola, 4.6 inches of rain was recorded since Wednesday.

In Walton County, a state of emergency was declared after significant damage to local roads and bridges.

“This is an extraordinary rain,” said Russell Beaty, Walton County’s emergency management coordinator. “We typically can handle a good deluge. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen anything quite like this in recent history.”

Beaty said a washout on County 3280 south of State 20 has closed the road indefinitely.

Walton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Catherine Rodriguez said the county has sustained about $1.44 million in damage from the rain and flooding.

Damage assessment teams from the American Red Cross set out across Bay and Washington counties beginning Friday morning, and initial reports indicated most residential damage caused by recent heavy rainfall and flooding appeared to be minor.

“We’ve seen and heard a lot of the word-of-mouth stuff said about the flooding, but we haven’t had many local residences with major damage,” Central Panhandle American Red Cross CEO Bob Pearce said Friday. “We’ve seen homes with minor damage.”

Damage assessment teams resumed operations Saturday at 10 a.m. Emergency response vehicles brought food and water to some residents of Lynn Haven, where an estimated 18 inches of rain fell.

Mia Burton’s home in Lynn Haven was among several houses in the area of Georgia Avenue and West 13th Street beset by floodwater.

“We were just running around trying to set up sand bags,” she said.

Water damage to Burton’s home was minimal, she said, though several inches of water crept into other houses in the neighborhood on Thursday.

Friday, floodwater in the area had largely receded, but aparticular area on nearby Redbird Street in Lynn Haven still had a couple of inches reaching beyond the right-of-way up to the sidewalks.

Wyatt McCutcheon’s home sits smack in the middle of the lowest portion of the road.

“It was like a river through here (Thursday),” McCutcheon said. “The kids were out here having a blast, though. They had their floaties on and some brought out rafts.”

It was particularly exciting when a car would drive along the street, he said, creating a wake for the children to surf on, he said.

About a mile north on Alabama Avenue, it appeared another Lynn Haven resident was not enjoying the water as much as the McCutcheon family. The resident had erected a plywood sign in their yard with “NO WAKE!” spray-painted in red.

McCutcheon said the storms produced more rainfall than he’d seen in past hurricanes.

At Pier Park in Panama City Beach on Friday, Alex Lopez shared a similar sentiment, saying the rain was the worst he has seen.

“I have been down here 10 years and this was a bad rain,” said Lopez, who was forced to close his lemonade stand at Pier Park because of the weather.

Flamingo Joe’s Market’s along Thomas Drive had damage from the storm. Diane Moore stood with her little dog Friday waiting for customers to come into the market.

“Business has been very slow,” Moore said. “The day before yesterday we sold a bag full of tomatoes and yesterday a dozen eggs.”

Moore said July Fourth holiday is traditionally when a lot of businesses make their money.

Rupert Mix, who came down from Georgia for the holiday, said he was glad the rain eased up on Friday.

“I came down here with family and had hoped to be out at the beach,” Mix said. “I think we went out to the beach for a while when we first got down here but that has been about it. It’s been a washout.”

Fellow visitor Dora Ross came down from Alabama for a July Fourth vacation. She was wearing a sun hat as she walked in Pier Park

“Where is the sun?” she laughed. “I came down here for vacation and spend most of the time in the hotel lobby. Not fun.”

Meanwhile, major roadways in the Panama City area were re-opened Friday after several sections were temporarily closed due to flooding. Friday on Front Beach Road and on Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach, debris including palm leaves, branches and sticks were left scattered from inches of floodwater the day before.

Significant floodwater remained on other roadways, but slowly receded throughout the day. In Panama City Beach, water blanketed one lane of two-lane Joan Avenue near Thomas. The water included untreated sewage from Panama City Beach lift station 40, which overflowed due to the heavy rainfall but had largely receded Saturday morning.

In Callaway, traffic on Tyndall Parkway near East 11th Street slowed Friday as motorists splashed through several inches of water. Tyndall northbound was reduced to one lane because of the water.

And in Springfield, floodwater lingered on State 30 between Cherry and St. John. The road remained closed Saturday due to water, as did U.S. 98 at Bayou Street in Panama City; State at North Berthe in Callaway; and State 77 at Mosley in Panama City.

Just one family had reportedly stayed at Washington County’s flood shelter by Friday night, though others had stopped by for food and water. The family came to a shelter at Abigail Freewill Baptist Church in Vernon after their home flooded, according to Washington County emergency management coordinator Lynne Abel. Officials had been preparing to close the shelter because no one had sought refuge there since it opened Wednesday.

Bay County opened a flood shelter at the Bay County Fairgrounds on Thursday night, and at least four people had sought assistance there by Saturday morning.